China home prices rise 6.2% in April on-year

BEIJING: China's home prices rose 6.2 percent in April, accelerating from the previous month's 4.9 percent gain, an official survey showed on Wednesday, marking a broadening recovery in the country's housing market.

Compared with a month earlier, home prices last month rose 1.2 percent, up from March's 1.1 percent, according to Reuters calculations from data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The southern cities of Shenzhen and Shanghai were still the two top performers, despite tightening housing measures introduced in late March, with home prices rising 62.4 percent and 28 percent, respectively, from a year ago.

Currently, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied at 12 per cent on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale.